What is Martial Arts Spirit to you?

[Ron Goninan]

What is Martial Arts Spirit to you?

 

Some of us do so for the love of the art, the cool buzz we get from doing it, from learning and understanding its many and varied aspects. Yes even for life-protection/self-defence. Some do it to discover more about themselves, to perfect character, to enjoy the "spirit" of the arts. It is not a prerequisite of the arts to go around punching people. The defensive/offensive aspects have there place but need not be the only reason to study it. There is martial arts spirit, there are martial arts fighting, there is martial arts forms, there are many aspects to the martial arts. Simply look at Sword study, the end aim is not to go around cutting people up into bite size pieces, to slice and dice them! If violence is all one seeks then what type of life is that?

 

After all if your only need or desire is to cause the maximum damage you can to someone then why not use a gun? This is in my view a self-limiting view of the martial arts in its entirety.

[.broken.]

 

My self-limiting view is this:

 

Martial arts is about development.

 

Everyone who starts this art wants to do so for many number of reasons. Be it to stand up to the bully in school, to instigate the natural state of the body, to take out stupid motherf*ckers who stand in your way, to be like Bruce Lee, to balance out your healing practices, to become more flexible, to gain more energy.... the list goes on and on....

 

Whoever you are, you have taken up martial arts to improve what you see as a problem (either that or your parents forced you into it ).

 

Development gives many benefits, no matter what the subject of development is. The very word means to undergo a process.

 

Processes take something and transform it.

 

Martial arts is the process, the something is the practitioner, the transformation is union with Dao.

 

Yours most humbly,

James

[Vajrasattva]

Healing - Peace - Compassion - Generosity - Self Independence - Brother/Sister hood - Achieve oneness with the Creator - Protection of Tribe (Family, friends, Land, Mother Earth, Cosmos).

 

This is the "PENDEKARS" way.

[rain]

I just admitted to Max and the kunluners that I am a true idiot and still really enjoy a mean fight.

hahahaha.

 

no.

ok,

yes.

seriously its about all you mentioned. It is cultivation on a strict and focused basis. a good way to learn about your psyche and to build comradeship while simultaneously learning to compete and to trandscend competiotion and how to still grow. the beauty of movement through both subtle sensitivity and brute agression. mesmerized to see how ordinary people morphe into shapes and movements first seen in their dreams.

 

yes. definitely love.

[Vigilant3]

I feel that martial arts are a practice like any other. Why do people play with toy train sets? Why do people collect stamps? Build cars/planes? Fly kites? Collect comic books? Workout at the gym?

 

Although there are a few overlying obvious reasons such as for the fun of the act itself, or the aesthetic value of some practices, the underlying purpose is all the same. In practicing something, we find a belief for ourselves. Something to call our own. It is something precious that we devote ourselves to. Something nobody will ever truly understand; something private.

 

The spirit of the martial artist isn't extraordinarily different from any other in my opinion.

[Mal]

I was going to do a proper answer, but I'll share something I was thinking about yesterday.

 

I've just started learning a paired staff drill for Tong Long (After learning the solo form last year) So to me martial arts means :-

 

When I was a kid I use to pretend to be Monkey with his magic wishing staff.

 

Now at 35 I can pretend to be Monkey with his magic wishing staff, except now the staff actually works !

 

(ok not the size changing bit, but I'm sure that will happen when I master cloud calling )

 

So as well as learning to respect

Elders

Parents

Teachers

and their teachings

 

and training to be

Kind

Honest

Generous

and Kung Fu

 

I get to have fun at the same time.